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Neither Imperialist Nor Nationalist

Reader comment on item: [Samuel Huntington and] American Purposes In Iraq

Submitted by Tim Starr (United States), Apr 27, 2004 at 16:09

Germany, Japan, and Italy are "democratic, capitalist, and under the rule of law," but would anyone describe them as having been remade in the American image? I wouldn't.

As presented, Huntington fails to accurately describe the proper argument for an active US foreign policy. The argument is that American democracy cannot be safe in a world with dictatorships capable of attacking the U.S., either directly or through proxies such as Al Qaeda. So, we must identify the most dangerous dictatorships in the world, prioritize them, and come up with policies for democratizing them.

This does not presume the universality of all American values. They don't have to like McDonalds, American pop culture, etc. They can be as welfare-statist as Sweden, or as free-market as Hong Kong. They can have establishment of religion, so long as it is combined with toleration of dissenters.
Submitting....

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Reader comments (33) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
set achievable goals [95 words]yuval brandstetter MDMay 17, 2004 14:4015257
WE Must Write the History [549 words]Charles GilinskyMay 4, 2004 16:5215038
Huntington [54 words]henryMay 4, 2004 08:4215031
Huntington Repeats Weber's Error [164 words]Paul SaundersApr 30, 2004 10:4314962
Vision for America [200 words]Robert D. BarryApr 30, 2004 01:1014953
What Danger? [139 words]Jack LassApr 30, 2004 00:4414952
AMEN! [63 words]heidi hamilApr 29, 2004 22:3614951
Patriotism [46 words]Octavio JohansonApr 29, 2004 05:5214943
Gratitude to Mr. Pipes [211 words]B. McCainApr 29, 2004 00:0914940
Nation Building is Unrealistic [181 words]Denis ArmstrongApr 28, 2004 21:2114934
NATIONALIST! [490 words]StephanieApr 28, 2004 17:3114929
US goal in Iraq: "Cosmopolitan" views will fail in any culture [297 words]KenApr 28, 2004 16:4214928
American Purposes valid. [498 words]Kirk BertinoApr 28, 2004 10:1314920
Mohammedian Wars [137 words]DONVANApr 28, 2004 09:2114919
Huntington's new book [66 words]brad bucherApr 28, 2004 08:5514918
Need better terms than "Cosmopolitan, Imperialist, Nationalist" [160 words]Nancy BeutelApr 27, 2004 23:2014914
American Purposes in Iraq [93 words]John GlueckApr 27, 2004 23:0114912
America the Beautiful [634 words]Jim SApr 27, 2004 21:3714908
Hmm... [91 words]Paul GeeJun 29, 2008 07:0714908
Thank you! [78 words]NanciApr 27, 2004 18:1214904
Three purposes for America's policy? [131 words]Martin SchulbergApr 27, 2004 18:0514902
US role in Iraq [95 words]Fred SingerApr 27, 2004 17:0514900
Neither Imperialist Nor Nationalist [140 words]Tim StarrApr 27, 2004 16:0914898
How Little We have Learned [126 words]David HarrisApr 27, 2004 15:3714896
please clarify [161 words]Michael RosenbaumApr 27, 2004 15:2814895
Iraq [52 words]Mort ReichekApr 27, 2004 14:5514894
Bravo [15 words]dmdApr 27, 2004 14:4414892
Likely consequences of a premature withdrawal from Iraq [78 words]Avraham WeissmanApr 27, 2004 14:2614890
Nationalism won't maintain USA hegemony [120 words]SomaApr 27, 2004 13:3114887
A nationalist America [137 words]Marty EkremApr 27, 2004 13:0714886
Then you reject the results of The Marshall Plan? [54 words]Dan SchwartzApr 27, 2004 13:0014885
American Purposes in Iraq. [78 words]JeanApr 27, 2004 12:4214883
America's role [214 words]Joshua SiskinApr 27, 2004 12:0214882

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